Russia Admits Drone Strikes Cut Oil Output as 14 Regions Face Fuel Curbs
Updated
Updated · OilPrice.com · Jun 15
Russia Admits Drone Strikes Cut Oil Output as 14 Regions Face Fuel Curbs
3 articles · Updated · OilPrice.com · Jun 15
Summary
June 9 marked Russia’s first formal acknowledgment that Ukrainian drone attacks on its energy sector were causing oil production cuts and fuel supply disruptions, after Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak had cited “unscheduled maintenance” days earlier.
1.2 million to 1.3 million barrels a day of secondary refining capacity was offline in May, with hydrocracker outages rising to 250,000 barrels a day from 50,000-60,000 a year earlier as Ukraine increasingly hit harder-to-replace bottleneck equipment.
Repeated strikes on the same sites are extending outages: Tuapse was hit five times in April and May, and its oil loadings in May were 91% below a year earlier, while diesel production fell 10% in May after a 10% drop in April.
14 Russian regions have reported fuel-sale restrictions, panic buying has appeared in some areas and occupied Crimea, and Moscow has already banned gasoline exports since April 1 and aviation fuel exports since June 1.
Ukraine’s deeper campaign is accelerating—658 long-range strikes were recorded in 2025, with more than 800 projected for 2026—but analysts say the pressure is eroding Russia’s flexibility rather than proving its oil system has reached a breaking point.